Opinion: Don't be fooled: There are no real concessions in Microsoft's ballyhooed new golden rules of engagement. (Microsoft Watch)

For Microsoft historians who've kept tabs on Microsoft's dealings with its PC and software partners during the past decade, the words "Microsoft" and "principle" make strange bedfellows.

It was 10 years ago this coming October that the U.S. Department of Justice filed its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, based on what the DOJ considered a breach of terms outlined by a 1994 consent decree with Microsoft.

After years of damning testimony, via which Microsoft's unscrupulous business practices involving its OEM partners came to light, the company was found guilty of abusing its desktop Windows monopoly.

Since then, Microsoft has been slapped with a number of additional antitrust suits, here and abroad.

That's all ancient history, company officials insist: Microsoft has learned its lesson.

Officials of the company issued these principlesa week after it was fined $357 million by the European Commission for failing to play nice, by the wayin order to "promote competitive opportunities and otherwise enhance the appeal of Windows to developers and users."